Morning Meadow
by Ubiquitous Jade
Summary: Can there be any peace, even in an inherently peaceful place, with a family of ninja? Sibling rivalry always manages to worm its way in there.
1. How Can the Brother Win?

A youngster collapsed back into the still-dewy grass and flowers which dotted the meadow. The early, lazy mornings were her favorite time of day; when no one was yet rushing around to shove every minute of every day into some sort of arrangement. She was too young, at eight, to fully grasp the importance of a categorized day, she mused. To her, it seemed rather presumptuous to try and make the day, and time, for that matter, bend to one's will, much less to continue to do so forever. But alas, she was eight, and eight she decided to remain in discerning how grown-ups accomplished this monumental task of controlling time itself.

She inhaled deeply and filled her small lungs with as much meadow-and-dew scent as she possibly could; she hoped that would tide her over until next weekend when she was able to return. These lazy days of rest that arrived only once a week seemed few and far between to her.

She was glad that her father had been given the day to spend with them as well, seeing as he didn't often have the chance to go with her and her brother on these little jaunts out to the peaceful, damp meadow. She could tell his presence appeased her previously edgy mother, and they had disappeared off somewhere into the small wooded areas to share a pleasant breakfast together.

The young girl sighed and rolled over to her right to gather more of the cool and refreshing morning dew on her skin, and as she giggled with the wet contact she realized her brother was watching her antics in the meadow with some glee from a branch of a tree some yards away and above.

She controlled herself enough to not immediately rush him and tackle him—that was, _if_ she could catch him. Speed was one of his accepted skills, beyond his lack of control.

A smirk formed slowly on her face, and a snicker managed to find its way out of her throat. Ah, yes. She had a plan to get around that. Luckily for her, she knew well enough how to circumvent his abilities. He wouldn't get away with finding amusement from her ridiculous enjoyment—besides, it had been at least nine days since last they were alone enough to fight using their abilities—far too long under their guardian's respective thumbs.

--

He watched with mounting delight as his sister continued to roll around giggling in the wet soil and grass. He'd been certain for a moment there when she stiffened and slowed that he'd been sensed, but she'd simply sat up and, so quickly he almost hadn't caught it, thrown a small root or stick, or something, out from under her into the undergrowth. She's rubbed her backside for a second before collapsing back into the blooming spring flowers and—snickering?

Wait, what? This wasn't the same giggle as before…

He frowned before tilting his head and reviewing her throw again. Had something happened…?

Suddenly his inherited thought processes had given him reason to worry over his inherently aggressive and judicious sister. He started to shift his weight to make a quiet move of his own—

He then began to make a gasp, but wasn't even allowed to finish that, either.

A dulled kunai (all his mother allowed him and his sister to posses outside of supervised activity) pinched his skin at the base of his neck.

"Oh, sh—"

The real Tomoe kicked him in the back off the tree branch with enough force to shake the entire limb. She heard a slightly wet plop from about ten feet below and nodded in a self-satisfied manner.

"Teach you to even _think_ about making fun of me, Arashi." She muttered with some vehemence down to the eight-year-old boy sprawled below. She knew he could hear her very well.

--

The parents of these twins currently engaging in their own form of ninja warfare watched lazily from a not-too-distant spot comfortably settled in the wooded meadow. As their young daughter had discovered, the warm, wet mornings on days of relaxation forced even the most alert of ninja veterans into a peaceful state.

This peaceful state was currently working in Tomoe's favor as Sakura and Naruto chuckled together over this activity reminiscent of their own early years which they were inclined to let be, for now.

"Why ruin a perfect morning, one which the council has so graciously given our overworked Hokage, by expending charka to teach them a useful lesson?" Sakura muttered into her husband's ear. He pulled away to smile gleefully at her.

"'Course not. I seem to enjoy recalling similar behavior a long time ago, eh, Sakura-chan?"

Her face scrunched up a bit at that, and he hastily retracted, "Well, maybe not _so_ much enjoyment, okay?"

She shrugged and relaxed against him. After a few minutes, though, the yells and thumping sounds were getting repetitive. Naruto only moved, however, when the birds were disturbed in the bush seven feet away. He'd been watching those birds. He supposed it was time to stop the twins from _completely_ shattering the morning stillness.

Time to re-teach lesson number one in the Uzumaki household – there was a very good reason their father was both Hokage and the most unpredictable ninja in Konoha.


	2. Sometimes The Sister Fails

AN: Well, this is my attempt at drawing a story out. I'd love reviews/concrit, because improvement is my goal, so read and review (not required, though, I hold no story for ransom).

As I wrote this I realised I somewhat have a story going on here, and maybe if it keeps coming I'll...round it out? We'll see. I hope you do enjoy.

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_Stealth. I am stealth._

Arashi crept almost silently through the undergrowth towards his objective. At eight, his parents told him they expected more fruitful training exercises, and he was setting out to reach that ever-elusive goal of progress today.

'Almost silently', however, was not quite enough when dealing with Uzumaki Sakura.

Following a brief flurry of arms and kunai and grunts, Arashi lay on the ground underneath her, panting lightly at the effort he had attempted to make. His bruised forearm was currently matching his ego perfectly.

The much larger woman frowned above him; he knew that look—it meant a lecture was coming on, but he had no intention of sitting through it peacefully. He squirmed his best until he finally resigned himself to the fact that mommy was just stronger than he was.

"Arashi," Sakura muttered, "certainly you know by now that you'll never get free _that_ way."

Arashi took only a moment to assess the situation and pull out one of his best moves to change it: he pouted.

Mom was not ready to give up yet on teaching, he could tell. He moved on to whining.

"Mom, I'll never get outta this anyways. My arm hurts."

At this, Sakura offered up a long-suffering sigh, releasing him from his position of being pinned on the ground and moved to stand, arms crossed, before him. He rubbed his arm and grimaced at her, knowing the teaching part he was trying so hard to avoid was coming.

Sakura pursed her lips. "Arashi, are you even _trying_ to work at this? You're giving up far too quickly when I catch you."

"I am," he shifted his feet uneasily in the dirt, "it's just hard to focus for so long. And besides, you're going to win anyways."

Sakura sighed again. "That's not the point," she countered. "You'll always be up against an enemy you can't beat if that's your view on everything." She paused while the words were digested, then shook her head slightly. "And about focusing, that just means you're being lazy. I _know_ you can keep up continuous stamina when you want to."

He shifted his feet again, turning his embarrassed glance away towards the tree line. He could do it, she knew. He was no ordinary eight-year-old, after all; he'd been raised in this world of sparring and chakra molding and the Hokage officialdom, raised for the day when he could properly focus everything about his movement and chakra continuously. Her main contemplation right now was why he couldn't—but she had answered her own question not seconds ago.

He could. He just wouldn't. And that could be solved by finding the proper motivation.

Oh, well. Nothing more to be done this afternoon, then. "Fine. If you've finished for today, you can go."

He glanced at her with an abrupt abundance of glee and bounded off, shouting a brief goodbye, or whatever passed as a goodbye from him. Sakura smirked after him, thinking of how much of an underachiever her son was, and who this obnoxious behavior reminded her of.

--------------

_Stealth, control, calm…_

Tomoe repeated this mantra silently to herself, focusing her entire eight-year-old being into submission to it. Only, for her, this was entirely voluntary.

It was small and grey, agile, and clearly intent on causing trouble. She had spotted it rummaging in a trash bin near the edge of town, and had followed it here to the woods in order to fulfill her father's suggestion, which she had taken as a mission: '_Why don't you make sure all the alleyways are clean? Just peak in and make sure there aren't any strange animals in there…'_ He had shuddered to himself at that, a reaction to a long-forgotten memory of his own Genin days involving stray animals in alleys. She had been thrilled at the opportunity to prove her reconnaissance skills, and even the thought of it being _training_ couldn't make her any less proud.

Arashi would never be allowed so much free rein. Especially not with training. This made it even better.

So she moved slowly and smoothly towards the raccoon, breathing as much as she dared, shying away from the patterned light shifting from above in hopes of remaining unnoticed. As she began slinking nearer, Tomoe all but stopped breathing in anticipation.

This was her first mistake.

The longer she held her breath, the more unfocused her vision became, and sooner or later she probably would have forgotten that pile of rotting leaves she was standing next to. She did, and it made a wet, spongy sound. She removed the offending foot, but not before raising the alarm.

It abruptly straightened and cocked its small, pointed head around, catching sight of Tomoe and her attempt at stealth mid-stride; her breath went out in a rush of surprise.

"Guh!"

It dashed off behind the barrels and crates as she dug the balls of her feet into the hard dirt, shoving off to gain momentum. _I won't lose! Daddy gave me a challenge this time,_ she gritted her teeth between huffs, _and I won't let Arashi look better than me._

While all of these competitive notions ran through her head, her newly-released brother bounded through the city streets of Konoha towards Ichiraku.

------------

Arashi always thought Ramen was supposed to cheer the soul up, and the thought of it should have been good enough, but as he trotted towards that particular stand he and his father often frequented, he couldn't help but feel a disappointment that wasn't too unfamiliar. Especially recently. Recently, Tomoe had mastered kunai throwing. He had…well, not failed, he firmly reminded himself, but he just couldn't quite hit the target. At all.

Failed. Okay, maybe a little.

Tomoe always learned things faster than he did. She always had more of mom's attention than he did. Which made it hard to study with mom at all – he wasn't used to it.

Then again, when he worked with dad they both had a tendency to goof off more than getting anything done. So? He was still learning. He had time.

Arashi sighed as he looked longingly towards Teuchi's Ichiraku, and still felt no joy. Obviously, his conscience would bother him if he didn't go back out there and get a little target practice done before lunch time. He spun on his heel dramatically and trudged back, with his hands in his pockets, pouting, to the training grounds.

Ayame clucked her tongue as she watched him march away, turning to her white-haired father. "Oh, Daddy, that poor boy. Obviously something wrong if he can't even make it to the barstool."

Teuchi chuckled gently and nodded.

-----------

Naruto dropped the pen on his desk and rubbed his temples, a habit he must've picked up from Tsunade, he supposed. It was an action he imagined seeing on a responsible person; didn't seem to fit him at all.

There was always one more form to sign, one more meeting to attend, one more ninja needing special attention from the Hokage (which often reminded him of himself, so he never turned them away). At least Sakura dropped by for a visit to his office every few days, which made it bearable; otherwise, he might just go insane from the monotony.

But after working with Arashi yesterday for the first time in weeks, she had dropped by to rant at him for his looseness in training him – he was too much like his father, she said, and didn't even want to try.

"I turned out all right," he mumbled to himself. He laced his fingers and stretched his arms out in front of him, exhaling deeply.

The only thing that bothered him was Tomoe. She was everything it seemed Arashi was not – skilled, focused, competitive. She knew that, and he knew, but what Naruto wanted to know about his children was what they thought of each other.

Was Arashi jealous? Of course. Was Tomoe too competitive? Probably. Were they both equally matched with wit and ability when they set their minds to it?

_That_ was something he was most eager to find out. After that brawl in the meadow during their vacation, he wondered what would happen to their relationship.

Naruto sighed from behind his stack of incoming reports and slid one lazily towards himself. If only he could figure out why siblings had such competitive views of one another? He would get a lot more money than he did now.

------------

He had attempted to throw a couple poorly-timed kunai at the swaying boughs of the trees at the grounds, but missed most of them entirely. He _had_ hit one, though – and his frustration was tempered by that.

As Arashi unsteadily chakra-walked up the tree to his third kunai, stuck at a strange angle in the trunk, he paused at the crunching sounds coming nearer, punctuated by thumps and thwacking sounds of kunai hitting logs, bushes, rocks, and tree branches. Before his brain could even register curiosity, he glimpsed Tomoe bounding along behind a raccoon, throwing wild kunai towards the animal and missing by margins of a foot or more.

So she really _hadn't_ 'mastered' kunai throwing, seeing as small moving targets could elude her. This cheered him up far more than ramen ever could have. Today, at least, he hastily added. Best not offend ramen.

Arashi was beginning to make a move to slide down the trunk and join her, when a realization struck him – if a _raccoon_ could outwit his sister, surely she wasn't perfect! The only thing that could prove it was if he could show her up himself.

A small, sly grin slid into place, and it wouldn't go away.

-----------

Tomoe was beginning to get really frustrated with this chase, and if was in her to be a quitter, she surely would have done so.

But no. Daddy had given _her_ a mission, hadn't he? Not Arashi, _her_. Surely she could finish something he wouldn't be able to.

_Thwack!_

She ground her teeth again as the umpteenth kunai missed.

She had figured out the aiming at still objects part, but moving little things were a lot harder.

The raccoon abruptly changed direction, and she skidded in the grass and old leaves around the trees to make the sharp turn. She fleetingly questioned the sudden change in direction, but only realized in hindsight.

As if a sudden change in gravity had occurred, a rope suddenly sprang up beneath her and caught her right foot, yanking her painfully upside down and flinging her arms around. Before her conscious thought had caught up with her, she was bouncing gently from a five-foot elevation, and struggling to get her bearings. _And_ find her kunai.

As soon as she could see straight, that blasted raccoon scampered out from the undergrowth into her line of sight, and just as it came within three yards of her tree –

A kunai flew out of the branches and hit it square in the tail, effectively pinning it to the forest floor.

Right in front of her.

She was initially impressed, gaping at it, before swinging her dangling body around to see who'd got it. She was therefore _overwhelmed_ by Arashi's loud, but smooth landing next to his target.

"Wait, _you_?!"

He turned his sly grin to her and crossed his arms. "What, you didn't think anyone could be better than your throws? You missed by at least three feet every time you threw." He stood up and hopped over to look up from beneath her dangling body. "And I guess I'm better at traps than you, too, huh?"

"You never – how did you – I didn't – " she sputtered, all the while swinging her arms right above his head. After a moment, she ceased, and crossed her arms looking away.

"That was _my_ job. You made me fail it." She muttered. " I failed."

The grin slipped just a little.

"Whatever," he drawled, a little loudly, "you always get the jobs Daddy gives out." Arashi kneeled and pulled the kunai out of the earth, freeing the raccoon, and it ran off into the bushes. He spun the kunai in his hand with a flourish before dropping it in his holster and bounding off into the high shrubbery.

"Wait," Tomoe called shrilly, "what about me?" She reached upwards toward the knot on her ankle.

A kunai flew from where Arashi had disappeared, followed by his upper body poking out, "Oh, yeah. I figured you'd be all right." He snickered loudly and ran off again.

Tomoe pushed herself over and crawled up to slump against the tree, rubbing her ankle. If wasn't a ninja, she thought, she might have sniffed a little there.

------------

Arashi reached the tall wooden posts of his parent's favorite training ground and slid down the length of it, breathing heavily. He hadn't been sure he could _do_ that! And he hadn't been able to hit his targets earlier today, much less moving ones!

And more importantly, he had shown Tomoe up, hadn't he? She wasn't perfect! He could win against her if he really wanted to! _Wait until mom heard about – _

He stopped, mid-thought. That reminded him of the look on her face when she'd muttered that she had failed. Like she was…mad that he'd won. It was like…

He didn't know, and he groaned at the mixed feelings this victory had brought. Why couldn't winners always feel good?

So maybe he wouldn't tell mom, and maybe she'd still be mad at him for not getting it, but it would give him more time to think about this, and Tomoe. Why were siblings so hard?

After fifteen minutes in the same position, almost as lost in thought as he could be at eight, he wordlessly stood and walked home.


End file.
